Read all about CAT 2019 question paper including difficulty level, topic-wise weightage, RC topics for both slot 1 and slot 2 exam. Also download CAT question paper 2019 for free.
CAT 2019 question paper was released by IIM Kozhikode for slot 1 and slot 2 on November 29. The questions papers were accompanied by official answer keys and question-wise solutions. Candidates preparing for CAT exam must go through the CAT previous year question paper to know the difficulty level of the questions, marking scheme and change in exam pattern if any. In this article, you will get CAT question paper 2019 PDF for free download along with analysis of both slot 1 and slot 2 papers. Read on.
The structure of CAT question paper 2019 is same as that of question papers of previous years as the CAT exam pattern has not changed in the last five years. The difficulty level and topic-wise weightage of questions were different from previous years, though. Take a look at the break-up of CAT 2019 question paper of slot 1 below:
Explore colleges based on CAT
- CAT 2019 Question Paper: Section-wise break up of questions
- CAT 2019 Question Paper: Slot 1
- CAT 2019 Question Paper: Slot 2
- Free CAT Mock Test for Practice
CAT 2019 Question Paper: Section-wise break up of questions
The question paper of CAT 2019 was divided into three sections having both MCQs and non-MCQs. The number of MCQs were more in all the sections and apart from VARC questions, all were of easy to moderate difficulty level.
CAT question papers are released within a week of the exam in the form of a PDF as a response sheet and answer key. Candidates who have appeared for the test are able to access the CAT question paper and answer key. The question paper of every slot is released on the same day along with candidate response sheet and official answer to all question. If any candidate needs previous year CAT question papers for preparation purpose, then they can download them from Shiksha website. We have hosted last five years' CAT question papers for aspirants to download and practice. These official CAT question papers are available for download free. You can download the CAT question paper PDFs at this link: https://www.shiksha.com/mba/cat-exam-question-papers Candidates must check and practice the latest CAT question paper to know the latest exam pattern and difficulty level.
| Section |
MCQs |
Non-MCQs |
|---|---|---|
| Quantitative Aptitude (QA) |
23 |
11 |
| Logical Reasoning & Data Interpretation (LRDI) |
24 |
8 |
| Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) |
27 |
7 |
| Total |
74 |
26 |
Also Read:
- How Scaled CAT Score will be calculated for three slots
- How many questions to attempt in CAT to score 99+ percentile
- Changes in CAT question papers in last 10 years
- CAT exam: 10 popular myths busted
CAT 2019 Question Paper: Slot 1
Given below is detailed explanation of CAT question paper 2019, slot 1, including section-wise distribution of sections, topics and difficulty level.
VARC section:
The VARC section CAT exam paper 2019 had a total of 34 questions (24 from RC and 10 from VA). There were 5 RC passages of 550-600 words. Four passages had five questions and one passage had four questions. The topics of RC passages were:
- British Folk Music
- Topophilia
- Emperor Penguins
- Internet Shopping and Choice Anxiety
- Origin of Story of Alladin
The VA section had 4 questions on parajumbles, three on out of context sentence and three on summary. Overall, the difficulty level of VARC was moderate to difficult.
DILR section:
The DILR section of CAT 2019 exam had 32 questions divided into eight sets. Out of eight, six sets were from Logical Reasoning and two sets were on Data Interpretation. Each set had four questions.
Logical Reasoning sets included:
- Linear Arrangement in Super Market
- Archery
- Prizes to be put in 100 boxes
- Coding
- Streets Intersection
- Dancers and Composers
Data Interpretation sets included:
- Bar Chart + Table Crimes in States
- Spider Chart on 5 vendors and 6 attributes
QA section:
The QA section of CAT question paper 2019 was of medium difficulty level. In total, it has 34 questions, out of which, 13 were easy, 13-15 were medium and 6-8 were difficult. This section had maximum number of TITA questions (11). The questions were from the following topics.
The CAT VARC section is dominated by RC questions. Out of 24 questions about 14-16 are based on Reading Comprehension passages and the rest of them are based on parajumbles, para completion, etc.
CAT has about 12-16 RC question. Since, it is not mandatory to solve all the questions, candidates can maximize their scores by leaving out the questions related to the passage they find the toughest. There is negative marking in CAT so candidates must ensure that they mark only the correct options or do not mark any option at all.
| QA topics |
Number of Questions |
|---|---|
| Arithmetic |
13 |
| Modern Math |
8 |
| Geometry |
7 |
| Algebra |
5 |
| Total |
34 |
Read More:

Vipra Shrivastava is MA in English Literature from Delhi University with extensive experience in content writing of over 14 years. She has been handling content for Management, Accounting and Commerce streams for 8
Read Full BioNews & Updates
Explore Other Exams
Jan '26 | XAT 2026 result |
Jan '26 | XAT 2026 Cut Offs Release |
9 Jan '26 | SNAP 2025 result announcement |
20 Dec '25 | SNAP 2025 session 3 |
13 Jan '26 - 17 Jan '26 | NMAT 2025 Exam Date (Additiona... |
5 Jan '26 - 10 Jan '26 | NMAT 2025 Scheduling (Addition... |
17 Oct '24 - 5 Dec '24 | IIFT 2025 registration and app... |
23 Feb '26 | MAT Feb 2026 PBT Registration ... |
26 Feb '26 | MAT Feb 2026 PBT admit card |
14 Feb '26 - 22 Feb '26 | IBSAT 2025 Selection Process |
30 Dec '25 | IBSAT 2025 Result |
25 Jan '26 | CMAT 2026 exam |
26 Nov '25 - 28 Nov '25 | CMAT 2026 form correction |
10 Jan '26 - 12 Feb '26 | MAH MBA CET 2026 registration |
7 Apr '26 - 8 Apr '26 | MAH MBA CET 2026 exam |
Jan '26 | Publication of TANCET notifica... |
Jan '26 | TANCET registration window |
Mar '25 | IRMASAT 2025 Final Result Anno... |
Feb '25 | IRMASAT Personal Interviews |
Student Forum
Answered Yesterday
No, CAT scores are not important for admission to the MBA course at the School of Business, Sushant University. As per the info. taken from the website of the university, it conducts its own entrance exam for enrollment into the MBA course.
C
Contributor-Level 10
Answered Yesterday
RGIPT allows admission without CAT/XAT/GMAT/CMAT/MAT/CUET-PG score under two circumstances. First, you should be a company-sponsored candidate. Second, if you belong to part time registration category. You will still have to fulfil the remaining eligibility criteria.
J
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 days ago
Candidates with a valid score of CAT/ GMAT/ GRE score are exempted from the written test. These candidates still need to complete the form by paying the application fees. However, these aspirants may get called for the IIM Trichy - Chennai campus PGPBM interview round.
A
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 days ago
CAT is one of the accepting exams for admission to PGDM at IPE Hyderabad. Candidates with a good score in CAT can also get a scholarship. However, CAT is not mandatory. Aspirants with a score in MAT, XAT, ATMA, GMAT or CMAT exams can also get admission in the PGDM course.
N
Guide-Level 15
Answered 4 days ago
No, candidates who wish to apply for the Global MBA course at Lexicon MILE are required to clear the LAT conducted by Lexicon MILE. The CAT exam score at Lexicon MILE is only used for deciding the PGDM admissions along with several other entrance exams.
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 4 days ago
CAT is one of the accepting exams for MBA admission at Karunya School of Management. However, it is not compulsory. Aspirants can also apply through XAT, MAT or KMAT scores. Candidates must also complete graduation to apply for MBA at KSM Coimbatore.
N
Guide-Level 15
Answered 4 days ago
CAT is one of the accepting exams for admission to MBA programme at Amity University Bengaluru. However, it is not compulsory. Aspirants can also get admission in MBA via MAT, GRE or CMAT scores. Candidates with scores in these entrance exams can also get scholarship provided they meet the criteria.
N
Guide-Level 15
Answered 4 days ago
No, CAT exam is not mandatory for VIT-AP MBA admissions. Candidates who are interested in the MBA course offered by the institute can also apply through the scores in the XAT and MAT as well.
VIT-AP also accepts the scores obtained in the VITBEE for the MBA admissions. However, candidates with a high
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 5 days ago
No, CAT scores are not compulsory for enrollement into MBA course at IIS Jaipur. As per the info. available on the website of the institute, the institute give prefrences to those students who have secured scored in the management entrance exams, such as CAT/ XAT/ CUET PG/ MAT. Thus, CAT scores can
A
Contributor-Level 9
Answered 5 days ago
Yes, Manipur Institute of Management Studies, Manipur University does accept CAT scores for admission to its MBA course. Students can also submit scores of other national-level exams, such as MAT/ XAT/ CMAT/ GMAT/ ATMA etc.
V
Contributor-Level 10
Till 2014, there were only two sections in CAT. Quantitative Aptitude was clubbed with Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning was clubbed with Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension. In 2015, the Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning were clubbed together and Quantitative Aptitude and Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension made two individual sections. Since 2015, the sectional segregation has remained the same but the number of questions have come down from 100 to 66. The exam duration has also been reduced. Until 2019, the CAT exam was of 180 minutes and the total number of questions were 100. However, in 2020, the question paper structure was revised due to COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, the total number of questions came down to 76. In 2021 and 2022, the number of questions were further lowered to 66. For the last two years, CAT is conducted for 2 hours, and the number of questions is 66. In CAT 2024 however, the number of questions were increased to 68.
The latest CAT question paper structure is: Total questions: 68 Number of sections: 3 Order of sections - 1. VARC 2. DILR 3. Quantitative Aptitude Sectional time limit: 40 minutes VARC questions: 24 DILR questions: 22 Quantitative Aptitude questions: 22.